


Of Lost Hopes

by yaruna



Series: Of Years Gone By [24]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Legolas POV, Mild Hurt/Comfort, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-28 03:55:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5076814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yaruna/pseuds/yaruna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wherein Aragorn is captured by orcs and it is up to Legolas to help him. Legolas POV</p><p>All parts of the series are stand-alone one-shots, though some may have references to previous happenings</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Lost Hopes

There had been nothing that day to indicate trouble was brewing. We had been on patrol at the borders since the last full moon, and we were to get relieved at first light the next day. There had been no bigger events for the duration of our duty, merely some spiders that had strayed from their nests. They were a quick business to deal with, and I was thrilled at the prospect of returning to the Halls without a single injury to my team.

We had been scouting from the inner reaches of our zone, towards the outer borders of Mirkwood, and were close to the borders when I heard running. I jumped higher in the trees to be able to get a better view of the plains and frowned as I saw two men that were running to the best of their ability to escape from a band of Orcs that were in pursuit.

I let out a sharp whistle for the rest of my team to fall in, and felt them move into positions around me, and we quickly ran across the branches to get to the edge of the forest where we could be of aid to the Men. I placed an arrow on my bow and held it loosely, waiting for the Orcs to get within range.

There is a very intense silence right before a battle. A moment when all your focus is towards your intended target, and you filter anything that you do not need to hear away. There are no chirps from the birds, nor are there any whispers from the trees. You are aware of your allies and their locations, and you listen for the footsteps of any hidden foes. The silence only lasts a moment, for when the first strike hits, everything dissolves into chaos.

I released my first arrow, aimed between the eyes of the Orc that was the closest to the humans that were trying to flee from the band. My second and third arrow flew before my first had struck its target, and then all sound came back at once. The Orcs and humans both were shouting in confusion.

‘It’s Elves, it’s Elves! To the forest!’ One of the humans cried, and they renewed their efforts in getting away from their foes. I frowned, for I had seen that they were both armed. Would they not stop and fight? Would they leave it all for us?

‘To the front.’ I said to my close-range warriors, as the Orcs were closing in on the humans, and they swiftly dropped out of their trees, drew their swords and charged. Their charge, combined with the arrows that Thímen and I were still firing, let the humans get further away, but the Orcs were starting to overtake my group, and I was running out of arrows.

‘Humans!’ I called, and they looked towards the forest in confusion, searching for me. They would not see me. ‘You can help us fight, or you can cower here and be responsible for the death of us all.’

I jumped out of my tree, noting the distressed looks on the faces of the humans, and sprinted towards the fighting group, hearing three sets of feet behind me; Thímen, and the humans.

With my knives in hands, I joined the fray. There was no blessed silence anymore. Metal was clashing against metal and Orcs were dying. Everyone in my patrol was still standing, I often looked to make certain of this. I cut through the neck of one Orc, and twisted to backstab another, but its thick hide deflected my knife. The Orc turned, swinging its mallet wildly about him, making me jump back to get away from the heavy weapon. Óleryd managed to get his heavier sword through the back of the Orc, successfully rendering it harmless. I gave him a quick nod of gratefulness before turning to the next enemy when I saw Thímen on the ground about to get an axe in his head. I flipped my knife over so I held its blade, and threw it hard to see it land between the eyes of the Orc making it fall backwards, axe still held high. Thímen looked at me wearily, and my blood froze in horror when he closed his eyes.

‘Thímen!’ I cried, and fought to get to him. I parried the strike of one Orc with my knife, and jumped up to kick it in its chest to get it off its feet before I sliced its throat. There is a reason I use double knives; I am not the most proficient with swords, and one knife oftentimes comes up short. Whenever I lose one during battle, I notice this and try very hard not to lose them. In some circumstances however, such as this one, it could not be helped.

‘Positions!’ I heard a cry from the forest and I immediately let out an answering whistle, noting that I heard one from every other Elf in my team as well, spare Thímen. Then arrows were coming in, felling well over half of the Orcs that were still left standing. The next patrol had arrived.

Once the additional patrol had joined the scrimmage, we were quickly able to slay the rest of the Orcs. As soon as all lay dead, or were about to be dead, I could finally get to Thímen where I dropped down to my knees and searched for a pulse. When I found it, I gave a sigh or relief and leaned back as Nestor came in to take over. He is a healer, and could give better care to Thímen than I could ever dream of.

‘How fares the rest?’ I asked him tightly, looking up to locate the rest of my team.

‘I do not know, I came directly here.’ He answered curtly as his fingers lifted one of Thímen’s eyelids. I got to my feet and went to every single one of my patrol, looking them over carefully. While I am not the best healer, which Estel would surely attest to, I am quite good at spotting when someone is hiding an injury. Luckily, the worst apart from Thímen seemed to be a couple of cuts and bruises. When I returned to Nestor, I was relieved to see that Thímen had his eyes open and Nestor was making him follow his finger. Probably a concussion then.

‘Legolas.’ Someone said from behind me and I turned to see Gwathon coming up, bow still in hand. The rest of his team had already taken up positions in the trees for their watch.

‘Gwathon. You are early.’ I said with a small smirk. Gwathon is never early after all.

‘Really? I thought we were late.’ He answered with a pointed look towards the dead Orcs and then at the two humans that were standing off to the side, looking like they would have rather been anywhere but here. I found myself wishing that they were anywhere other than here as well. Due to them, we had all been in grave danger, and I wished for them to be gone.

‘Early enough to save the day.’ I muttered, rather displeased with the knowledge that I would now have to return with an injured team. Again.

‘And yet we are too late from keeping everyone from getting hurt. Where are they from and why did they run for our borders?’ Gwathon asked with a look of distaste towards the humans.

‘I believe that I shall need to go and find out.’ I said, slightly tired of it all, and left Gwathon behind as I went to deal with the humans.

They were looking at each other with gazes that spoke of uncertainty and I vaguely wondered why they looked so odd to me. Both had brown hair with brown eyes. One was slightly taller and lankier than the other, but there was nothing that truly set them apart from most other Men that I had met. Yet I could not rid myself of the feeling that there was indeed something off with them.

‘Who are you to come treading on the borders of our lands, with Orcs!’ I said, suspicious of their intentions.

‘Peace. We mean you no ill. Our leader sent us to fetch help.’ The taller of the two said with a slight shake to his voice, but he stood straight.

‘What men do is no concern of ours.’ I said, mirroring my father’s words, although I was starting to get intrigued with why these men had been running for our borders when there are more hospitable places about.

‘He said the king might say that,’ the human continued hesitantly, ‘but he said to tell the prince of the word _estel_ … Does it mean anything to you?’

I narrowed my eyes and looked at them closely. Neither of these men were rangers that I had met previously, but I could easily believe they truly were rangers as their clothes and weapons well matched what I had seen rangers wear when with Estel. I looked to my patrol that was standing a bit away, with Nestor still hovering over Thímen, and Óleryd casting wary glances our way. I sighed softly.

‘You will find no help here.’ I said, knowing my father’s answer without asking.

‘But more Orcs are moving from the Misty Mountains! They will be close to your borders.’

‘They already are in Dol Guldur, and in the woods. Why do you think we met your Orcs so kindly with arrows? It is not uncommon for Orcs to risk Mirkwood, but they tend to meet their demise.’

‘Will you at least tell the prince of the word, _estel_?’

‘It will make no difference.’ I said as coldly as I could. I wanted these men gone so I could care for my patrol and bring them back to our camp where Nestor could better tend to their injuries.

‘Please!’ The taller man begged then. ‘Aragorn has been captured by Orcs!’

‘What?’ I breathed in surprise and I had a sinking feeling in my gut.

‘You know him? You know who he is, don’t you? Then help us!’ The man said desperately.

I looked at my patrol again. None of their injuries were going to take much more than a day to heal, and once they had, they could set off towards the Halls with Óleryd as their leader. While I was technically bound to the patrol that I was leading until we were back, I knew that they would be able to fend for themselves. If the rangers were speaking the truth, and Estel was captured, I needed to get to him.

‘Óleryd. With me.’ I said and moved closer towards Mirkwood and where we would be out of earshot from the human.

‘You will leave.’ He said as he joined me. It was not a question, for he already knew my heart. He always seemed to.

‘I must.’ I said sadly, still feeling conflicted about my decision. ‘If I have a chance of helping him, I must try. Make haste to the Halls once everyone is fit to travel, and send one scout to Lord Elrond with word of the events.’

He nodded solemnly, and I was grateful at his easy acceptance of my choice. He was one of few that had always met my friendship with Estel and the Noldor Elves with complete respect.

‘Be safe, princeling.’

‘Princeling.’ I repeated thoughtfully. ‘It is an apt word when I choose to leave my patrol behind. I am not yet grown to know where my place needs to be.’ I finished wryly, but he smiled softly.

‘I meant nothing by it, for I would say that you know precisely where you need to be, and it is not with us. But do not fall into their captivity again. If there is no escape for him, then please do not go in there.’ I shivered slightly at the memories of my own captivity, but pushed them away again.

‘I have no wish to repeat that experience.’ I said, looking straight into his eyes. He knew that I was not promising not to go in. Estel needed me, and if I could save him any hurt, I would not hesitate. At the very least, I hoped I would not hesitate.

Óleryd went to gather the patrol for the journey back to camp and I moved towards the two men who were standing off to the side, whispering to each other. They were whispering to each other, though not nearly as softly as they would have needed, would they have wanted to keep their conversation private.

‘We have to get to the prince. Halbarad said only the prince would do any good.’ The taller of the men said and I narrowed my eyes. Though they were obviously rangers, something just felt off about these two men.

‘But he never told us there was a company of Elves in the forest. According to our map, we are still days away from the Halls. If one of these Elves can help us, is that not enough? They all fought good.’

‘We’ll never get through unless they escort us.’ The first man said contemplatively, seemingly ignoring the advise from his friend. He looked out over the plains and froze when he saw me going their way, nudging his companion to keep quiet.

‘Legolas.’ Gwathon said urgently under his breath, and stopped me with a hand on my arm, making me turn to him instead. ‘I do not trust them.’

‘I am not entirely certain that I do either.’ I agreed. ‘But it matters not, if there is a risk that Estel is seeing trouble, I must go.’

Gwathon made an unhappy grimace, and looked out over our parties of Elves. My patrol were still clustered around Thímen, who had gingerly gotten to his feet, and Gwathon’s were walking towards the forest to take positions for the patrol.

‘Take someone with you at least. I do not wish to end up needing to come get you again.’ He said with a quirked smile, but his eyes were completely serious. I was certain that both he and Óleryd had mentioned my own incarceration in an attempt to dissuade me from going. I found it unlikely that they were aware of the fact that all they had done was to make my resolve stronger. I could not leave Estel to go through that on his own.

‘Who can I take, Gwathon? My patrol needs to get back to the Halls. The only one completely uninjured is Óleryd, and I will not take him.’

‘Then take Megilagor.’ He said with a nod towards the forest where everyone in his patrol had hidden. I located the Elf that he was speaking of quickly, not due to any lack of skill on the Elf’s part, but rather because I knew what unnatural movement I needed to look for in the trees to find someone hiding in them.

‘I cannot risk the patrol for my business.’ I answered, sharper than I had intended, but my words spoke true, so I did not take them back.

‘Legolas.’ He said in an exasperated tone.

‘If I do not return before your patrol is leaving, then come looking for me. But I am going alone.’

‘You are a fool, Legolas.’ He said, shaking his head. ‘What should I tell your father?’

I grinned widely at him, knowing that my father would not take the news kindly. But Gwathon would not be the one who needed to tell him.

‘Óleryd is the one who will need to figure that part out.’ I said cheerily, albeit with more than a little guilt shading my thoughts at leaving him to deal with my father. ‘Besides, my father already knows me to be a fool, it shall not surprise him much.’

‘You are your father’s son.’ He said with an air of resignation, and I looked at him in disbelief as I considered my father ever doing anything similar, but it did not quite fit right. ‘Go then, Legolas. Put no blame upon me when things go south.’

‘I am rather sure that we are going to be heading west.’ I answered quickly and literally, pretending not to understand his reference. Unfortunately, I had not entirely considered my own bad pun, and only caught it when he narrowed his eyes at me. ‘I shall be back before you miss me, Gwathon.’ I said in an attempt to take his mind off of any Gray Havens.

‘I sincerely doubt that, Legolas. But I shall wait until we are relieved of our patrol before going in pursuit of you. And have no doubt that I will. I will rather search for you for the rest of eternity, rather than confronting the king with why I let you go.’ He said and put his fist to his heart and gave a small bow. I was speechless, so I simply returned the gesture and turned back to go to the men. I made a beeline to the bodies of the Orcs first, to gather up as many arrows as I could before I joined them.

The men were watching me suspiciously, but nodded their heads politely as I greeted them.

‘Well met, master Elf.’ The taller of the two men said. If either of them was the leader over the other, it was this one. ‘We’re grateful for your assistance in the battle against the Orcs, but we still need to get to the Elvenking’s Halls to inquire for help.’

‘Well met, rangers. In spite of my previous words that were spoken in haste and worry for my kin, we are always happy to give our final farewells to a few more Orcs. You need not go to the Halls, I will go with you back towards where E… Aragorn was captured.’

‘We were specifically told…’ the taller man began when his companion interrupted him, surprising me as I had taken him to be the one less likely to say anything.

‘Let’s make haste, then. We have no horses, and it was a three day run.’

‘Then run we shall.’ I said, and we set off.

We ran and walked for half the day, before the rangers needed to stop for a rest. I was agitated still, and not until we stopped did I realize what felt so off about it all.

‘Aragorn did not ask you to fetch the prince.’ I stated to the air, ensuring both of them had heard as I started to clean one of my knives. I had not taken the time to do that after we had killed the Orcs, and I had a feeling I would need them in pristine condition before soon.

They looked at each other uncomfortably, with wary gazes to my knives. I had seen them fight, and they were no beginners, but they were also not close to the skill that I normally saw from the rangers in Estel’s company.

‘Halbarad did.’ The shorter man said and I nodded, showing him I believed that.

‘And what happened?’

‘We were…’ he started before he looked at his friend uncertainly again, and I felt a flash of annoyance, wondering why it was so difficult for these men to be straight with me. Then I looked closer at them, and realized that they were undoubtedly quite young; they barely had stubble on their chins, even though it was late in the day. Most rangers I knew kept their beards full, so I could only assume theirs would not grow out. Estel had never shaved when he still lived in Imladris, but when he came back he had had that awful mask covering his face, for warmth he claimed. So I could only imagine these two were in fact adolescents. ‘We wanted to see the Misty Mountains. We did not know that Strider and Halbarad would come after us.’

‘And you went without horses?’ I asked, lifting my knife to watch it gleam in the fading sunlight, not a single trace of blood on it anymore. I picked up the next one and started the same cleaning process.

‘Not… precisely.’ He answered hesitantly, eyes firmly attached to my knife, and his companion cut in.

‘We had horses. We were on the other sides of the Mountains.’

‘We thought, since we were in the Mountains anyways, we would cross it, and see Mirkwood.’ The shorter man stated.

I raised my eyebrows and looked at them in amusement. They sounded very much like someone else I knew. More specifically, they sounded a lot like Estel.

‘We didn’t know that there would be Orcs.’ The tall one said, trying to explain their actions, but rather telling me they had not truly considered the consequences of going off alone.

‘There was so many of them.’

‘We didn’t stand a chance.’ They were starting to talk over each other, and I was starting to have some trouble following their Westron, but I think I got the gist of it either way.

‘Halbarad and Strider came to our rescue just when we thought the Orcs would kill us.’

‘We fought and we had killed more than half when Strider was hit over his head, and the remaining ones retreated, with Strider over their back.’

‘More Orcs were coming from the top of the Mountain, so we couldn’t go back!’

‘So Halbarad called for us to find Prince Legolas of Mirkwood, he made sure to say Prince Legolas especially. He said none else would go.’ The shorter one said with a guilty look towards me and I smiled to show that I had no hard feelings. He had not been lying after all, none else would have gone.

‘So we ran,’ he continued, ‘and Halbarad followed the Orcs that had taken Strider, and the next band of Orcs followed him.’

‘The band that were on our tail when we came to your borders only sniffed us out a bare hour before we came to you.’

‘We thought we wouldn’t make it.’

‘This does make more sense than Strider telling you to find the prince.’ I said in clear amusement, and the two looked at me in horror, compelling me to explain myself further. ‘I have known him for a long time, and he is not one to put his troubles with Orcs upon the prince. Halbarad however, he would not have any such scruples.’

I lifted my other knife and inspected it just as I had the first before I deemed it clean and continued with the arrows.

‘What is your name, Elf?’ The first man asked and I hesitated with my wipe. I was unsure how to answer, since I still did not trust them fully.

‘Greenleaf.’ I said honestly.

‘That doesn’t sound very Elvish.’ He said suspiciously and I decided to take mercy upon them.

‘I am Legolas, its translation into Westron is Greenleaf.’

‘Legolas, that’s the same as the prince?’ He asked and I blinked. I had thought they would have figured it out when they heard the name, but I was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

‘The very same.’ I answered in amusement. ‘Now, I have given you my name, and I have yet to hear yours.’

‘I’m sorry, master Legolas. I’m Galdir, this is Belegorn.’ The taller of the two said.

‘Nice to make your acquaintance.’ I smiled, and finished cleaning the last of the arrows that had been buried in Orcs mere hours before. ‘Now, I wish to get to Strider and Halbarad sooner rather than later, are you fit to travel?’

‘I’m…’ Belegorn began hesitantly and I looked closer at them. They looked very tired, and I sighed.

‘How long has it been since you slept?’ I asked, knowing from Estel how much humans needed their sleep in order to be able to function, and I regretted not simply having asked them when we were at the borders, where I could have left them under the watchful eyes of Gwathon and his patrol. I could not very well leave them here to fend for themselves while I left to find Estel, and I doubted Estel would be very happy with me if I did.

‘About a day.’ Galdir answered.

‘Take a few hours, I will stand watch, but then we must go.’

I was rather amazed to see them nodding in agreement and putting their heads down on the grass. No ranger would trust a stranger so completely as these two seemed to, and I thought them to be even younger than I first had.

I busied myself with cleaning the knives once more, for even though they were spotless, they could not be too clean. Although, the more honest reason as to why I was doing it again was because I was feeling fidgety, and I had a difficult time sitting still. It had been a long time since I have felt quite like that; all I wanted to do was to run to Estel and get him out.

I did not like that I did not know how injured he was. I did not like that I did now know where he was or what had been done against him. So when we found him, he could very well be dead. If we found him at all. I was hoping that the Orcs had left plentiful of tracks for us to follow, or that Halbarad was intentionally laying out hints.

It was fully dark when I could not stand the jittery feeling anymore and I roused the two boys. In one way, they had brought this upon themselves, and I would not… I _could_ not delay anymore. So I did not feel guilty when Belegorn asked his mother for five more minutes, nor when Galdir tiredly sat up, and his head fell back against his chest in renewed sleep before he snapped it up and rubbed the grit out of his eyes.

For two more days we travelled, and I constantly had to pace myself to allow the Men to keep up. It was not their fault, but I was worried, and the longer it took, the easier it was for me to paint the worst scenarios imaginable. If they were anything like the Orcs that had captured me, Estel would still be alive, or some semblance of it, kept for their sadistic pleasures. I shivered and increased my pace.

‘Master Legolas!’ Belegorn called out from behind me and I stopped.

‘We must continue.’

‘Aye. But Halbarad went this way.’ Galdir said and pointed up the side of the Mountain, and I recognized the path. This was not simply Orcs that were similar to the ones that had captured me. Their destination was the same. I do not know the lifespan of an Orc, but chance was that even the Orcs were the same.

‘Quickly!’ I said to them and sprinted over the rocks. Them being Men, they were not nearly as light on their feet as I, and yet they now kept a grueling pace, trying their hardest to keep up with me.

When we were getting close, we had to slow down, or the noise that they were making would be too much, and we would have Orcs set upon us before we were ready for them. I skipped ahead once I had told them to be silent in their ascent, wanting to investigate rather than sending the boys up blindly.

What I found was Halbarad lying on his stomach, hiding behind a large boulder, looking towards the entrance of the cave where two Orcs were stationed.

‘Halbarad.’ I whispered and jumped back when he swiftly came to a crouch, sword drawn. He recognized me and sheathed his sword again.

‘Legolas.’ He whispered with a hint of relief in his voice.

‘I heard Aragorn has gone searching for trouble yet again?’ I asked, trying for cheerful, but it was a hard face to keep when all I could think about was what the Orcs were currently doing against him in there.

‘Aye,’ Halbarad sighed. ‘I wish you had brought more.’ He said with a glance over my shoulder.

‘None will come from Mirkwood for Aragorn.’ I answered honestly. ‘You would have had better backup had you sent your rangers back over the Mountains; to Imladris.’

‘I would have, if they had still had their horses. Where are they?’

‘They are coming, I ran ahead to scout.’ I said and he nodded.

‘Then let us retreat to a better place to speak.’ He said and we silently made our way down the path until we met the two boys, and we found a good plateau where we could keep a lookout over the path without risk being seen until they were nearly upon us. I would be able to shoot them before then.

‘What has happened?’

‘They have him in that cave. As far as I can tell, there are two entrances, but this is the main one, I have not seen a single one using the other, and I have been here for close to a week.’ He looked at me with a deep regret in his eyes. ‘I have found no chances to get him out of there alone. I fear we must get more backup.’

‘There must be something closing off the entrance.’ I muttered thoughtfully. The Orcs would not only use one entrance if there were two.

‘I think it may simply be a smoke-hole further in, but it is impossible to see.’ Halbarad said.

‘We must get there to explore it further.’

‘But how?’ Belegorn asked in dismay. ‘They will notice us before we even get close.’

I was looking towards the actual entrance and held up a hand to silence everyone. One of the Orc-guards had left the entrance and was walking down the path, coming our way. I closed my hands around my knives and drew them silently. I could have used my bow, but I was afraid that any noise a dead Orc made when falling onto the ground would bring another Orc. So we waited until it was just past us, out of sight of the other guard, before I dashed out and buried one of my knives deep in its neck. It gurgled and started to fall forwards, but I held on to it tightly as it died, refusing to let it bring any others to our position. I stumbled under its weight, but then Halbarad came up next to me and we were able to lower the corpse silently onto the ground.

‘Let’s move him to the plateau.’ Halbarad whispered and all four of us took a hold of one limb each as we moved it to lie out of sight of the lookout.

‘So… what’ll we do?’ Galdir asked, concerned. ‘I can’t believe we got Strider into this.’

I buried a laugh; obviously I had not buried it well enough for the three rangers looked at me in surprise.

‘Knowing Strider, you did not get him into this. He is not of the sort that will do anything that he does not wish to do.’

‘But if we had not left…’ Belegorn continued and now it was Halbarad’s turn to laugh silently.

‘While we did follow your tracks in the beginning, we switched when ne noticed new tracks from a band of Orcs. You boys being at the same place was a stroke of luck, or perhaps bad luck if you consider it.’ He was lying through his teeth, but it appeared to put the two young rangers at ease better than I had, taking some of their guilt away.

‘I think I could get in there.’ I said with a nod towards the secondary entrance. Gwathon had never told me just how he had managed to get in or out of the caverns the last time… He had been avoiding it like putting your hand in fire, although I cannot say that I had tried very hard to gather the information either. But even though he had not told me, now that I was here, that opening seemed like the only option. And if he could get in, and back out with me in the state that I had been in, then surely I would be able to get in and out with Estel. Unless the Orcs had figured out what had happened the last time and closed it off completely.

‘How’d you go about that? You’d be noticed by the spawn on lookout.’ Galdir said

‘Well…’ I looked down at the dead Orc in distaste. If I were to wear its clothes the other Orcs were highly unlikely to notice anything amiss, although the thought did not excite me in any way. Surely the clothes of an Orc were covered in fleas and lice. Not to mention the vile smell that impregnated them.

‘It could work.’ Halbarad muttered, also looking at the Orc, and we instantly set about divesting the corpse of its clothes.

I left my tunic and pants on, not wanting the clothes to touch my skin, but still I felt their oily texture, and rued the fact that I would need to throw my clothes away after this.

‘I would not wish this upon my worst enemy.’ I muttered as I tested the flexibility of the new armor. There would be no extravagant acrobatics with this on; that was certain.

Halbarad looked at me critically. I could see the corners of his mouth twitching; he was enjoying this far too much.

‘You’re too clean.’ He said, and I rolled my eyes.

‘I will have the helmet on.’

‘I’m afraid that will not be quite enough to cover up that shine of your hair.’ He answered, and could no longer keep from grinning widely as he picked up a handful of dirt from the ground. From all the stories Estel had told him, I was certain that he had not left out my need for cleanliness.

‘You do have a valid point, but I can simply hide it beneath the helmet.’ I said, backing away from him slowly. He truly was making a completely valid point, but I had been hoping to skip this part

‘And what if it comes loose?’

‘Then I believe they will notice no matter if I am dirty or clean.’ I answered him honestly and he smiled, finally dropping the dirt that he had been holding.

‘Legolas.’ He said, voice turning serious. ‘Get him out of there.’ He pleaded and I nodded.

‘I will not leave him in there by anything short of my death.’ I answered, looking straight into his eyes. He looked vaguely uncomfortable at the notion, but did not say anything further on that part.

I handed him my bow and quiver and pulled my knives out of their sheaths before I tucked them inside my new Orcish belt, and I fitted the helmet on my head, shivering as the slimy inside touched my face. Truly, even my worst enemy would not deserve this. But then I realized just who my worst enemy was and reconsidered. Even my worst, non-Mordor-allied enemy did not deserve this.

‘If you hear fighting, you may be best in leaving.’ I said as an afterthought before I left. His narrowed eyes told me that he would not leave, and I was slightly relieved at the fact. Then there were at least two of us that would rather die than leave Estel with the Orcs.

I walked with a hunch and with heavy steps up the path, trying to imitate the walk of the Orc, and felt the eyes of the other Orc upon me. It did not say a word as I disappeared towards the other entrance, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then at least the ruse worked at a distance.

I stopped at the entrance and felt a flash of cold terror take a hold of me as I looked at the caves that I once would have done anything to get out of, and now, against all reason, had every intention of entering again. It took my breath away for a moment, before I forced myself to push it down into a small discomfort in the pit of my stomach, not entirely gone, but no longer overwhelming and stepped into the darkness of the cave.

I had not taken but twenty steps inside before I met a wall. The light from outside was still enough to allow me to see that boulders had been used to close up the entrance. They had only left a smaller opening and I looked at it critically. I would be able to fit through it, but there was little chance of Estel getting through. Bar that he had not lost about half his weight in the days that he had been here. Which when I thought about it, was not entirely impossible considering just how timely the Orcs had been with meals during my hospitable stay. I was not sure they actually needed to eat, and even less certain that they knew that it was vital for humans. They certainly had not had any qualms about starving an Elf.

I looked through the opening, but could see nothing on the other side; the darkness was complete. There was nothing to do but to take the chance so I grabbed one of my knives and held it tight in my hand as I crawled through.

My luck held tight even on the other side, and I was blessedly alone. The darkness made me hang back by the wall for a bit until my eyes adjusted. Albeit I could still not see everything, I could see the basic outline of the chamber I had crawled into, and I begun to silently follow the wall. Voices were arguing loudly in Black Speech further ahead, and I went towards them when the chamber turned into a long corridor, figuring my best chance of finding Estel was in that same direction.

It seemed as though the chambers of the cave closest to the abandoned entrance were mostly unused as well, but I eventually recognized the path from having been dragged down it more than once and I could feel sweat gathering on my brows. This was starting to make me feel like a shivering wreck; I truly did not want to be here, but I could only push through. I was trying to avoid thinking about the events that had once transpired, and I had been succeeding for quite a few years now, but of course Estel would find some way of making me get back to it. He had been trying to get me to talk about it ever since it had happened after all.

I was not being entirely fair to Estel when thinking that. We simply had different ways of dealing with things. I typically try to handle things myself; I believe it to be a remnant of my youth. My father had been the only one I could talk to, but that was not entirely true either. I had never been able to show the true depth of my hurts to him, for I saw that it made him sad, and one of the things I have always had trouble with, is making my father sad or disappointed. Estel; he grew up with Elrond, Erestor and Glorfindel. Those three were much like Estel, trying to make you talk about it. Although, they were a bit more allowing than Estel in the cases when you wished to keep it inside, or at least they were more patient. But then again, they could wait for longer than Estel could.

The Orcs’ voices were getting louder and an insistent pain began to grow in my head with every word. I saw a group of four Orcs standing outside of the cells, arguing, or at least it seemed as though they were arguing with each other. Considering they are Orcs, it is hard to know what they were doing. My head was throbbing in pain, but with Estel on the other side there was only one way of getting through there.

‘Pssst.’ I let out a sound between my teeth and made sure they saw me as I made a gesture with my hand before I turned around to go into the closest chamber, hoping that they would be curious and follow so I could kill them in relative privacy. The hairs in the back of my neck were prickling; I was not comfortable, leaving my back completely open to the Orcs.

I placed myself against the wall and took a firm hold of both of my knives.

The first Orc walked into the chamber but I held my cool as the second and third walked in. The first called something in Black Speech and started to turn around. I immediately went out of the chamber to kill the one that was just outside. I heard the other three pull their weapons and I turned back to them after making sure the one outside would not take another breath.

While the Orc armor did inhibit me in my movements, and made me slower, it also helped against the slices that the Orcs got on me; I was rather certain not a single one got through to my skin. And even with the armor, I was quicker than them, and had them all lying on the floor within long. I took a moment to drag the first kill into the chamber as well, wanting to avoid any Orc stumbling upon it and seeing they had an infiltrator inside of their caverns. But then I realized it might not be that uncommon an occurrence that Orcs killed each other either way, so it was likely that I could have left it alone and they still would not have been any wiser. There were many stories I had heard during my youth about Orcs killing each other for amusement, after all.

I started going over all of them, trying to find keys for the cell that they were holding Estel in. I revised my previous though of what I would not wish upon my worst enemy as I searched the Orcs. Searching them through was a step worse than carrying their armor, and my hands were covered in goo and blood when I finally found a set of keys. I disgustedly wiped my hands off on my legs as I got to my feet again. Unfortunately it did not help much and I reminded myself not to put my hands to my face until getting some water. What I would not have given for a full body bath.

I walked silently to the cell and inserted the key into the lock, breathing a sigh of relief as the key turned and the door swung open. Then my breath stuck in my throat as I looked over at Estel. He was leaning against the far wall, legs curled close to him, arms wrapped around himself to try and keep warm. He was struggling to get his eyes opened. Once he managed, he was looking at me through one eye, the other one seemingly swollen shut.

‘Get away from me, Orc!’ He rasped out, and I winced at the tone of his voice. It was unlikely he had gotten anything to drink for a long time.

‘Orc?’ I whispered with as teasing a tone as I could manage with him sitting wounded in front of me. ‘That is a nice way to talk to someone here to save you.’

I went closer to try and see how he was faring. He did look a lot thinner than the last time I had seen him, but considering that was going on two years now it did not really say much. The darkness of the cave made it difficult to see anything distinct, but him just being awake and somewhat aware gave me heart that we would be able to get out of this alive.

‘Legolas?’ He asked in obvious surprise, and for a moment I think he felt relieved, but that look quickly disappeared, to be replaced with worry. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I heard the Mountains were nice this time of the year.’ I answered quickly as I looked into his eyes, looking for signs of concussion, and he let out a bitter chuckle.

‘I think you came to the wrong side of them. In here it’s all darkness and Orcs. And the occasional prissy elf that is…’ He interrupted himself for a short moment and let his gaze travel over me. ‘Are you really wearing Orc gear?’

‘Prissy? I even dressed up for you.’ I said before straightening up, deeming that if he had had a concussion, it was long gone by now. Anything else would need to wait until we got out of here. ‘Are you able to walk, Estel?’

‘I’m… yes, I think so.’

‘Good, because we shall need to take the other way out.’

‘Other way? Just how did you…’

‘We will talk of it later. I shall give you all the details you wish for, but for now, let us get out of here.’ I said, still feeling the sheen of sweat that was covering me, and I very much wanted to be out of here. This déjà vu experience was starting to get to me.

‘I will hold you to that, you know.’ He said in mock threat, and I helped him to his feet and put his hand on my shoulder. ‘You are cold.’ He said in shock.

‘Later.’ I hissed and pressed him back against the wall of the cell as I heard an Orc coming our way. Just one, and I thought it missed us as it went past in the outer hall, but then it paused and backed up. It grinned widely at me and I desperately tried to remember who had been the one to torture me at the end, needing something to distract it with.

‘Naga wants him. Alone!’ I said in Westron when I remembered the name, and the Orc narrowed its eyes at me and snarled, but it seemed like it would leave us until it violently slammed the cell door open and I took one step towards it and swiftly embedded my knife in its gut.

‘You did not really think it would work, did you?’ He said and I gave him a low chuckle, trying to show him that I was fine.

‘I should have learnt the Black Speech when I had the chance.’ I smiled at him and yet again steadied him as I started to lead him towards the entrance. He was leaning heavily against me, hot with fever and shaking constantly.

‘I am not sure this is a great plan.’ He muttered silently.

‘That is because this is not really a part of the plan. I had thought the other entrance was larger, but you are too big to get through it. So, we are going out through the front.’

‘Yes, you said.’ I could practically hear the frown in his voice.

‘The corridor gets tighter further ahead; we will barely be able to stand shoulder to shoulder. If we must fight, we have an advantage.’

‘Legolas.’ He said with a somewhat frustrated voice, apparently trying to reason with me.

‘What? Do you see another choice?’ I snapped silently and heard his sigh.

‘Sorry.’ He muttered contritely. ‘But Legolas, I am unarmed.’

I clenched my teeth. Of course he was unarmed, they would have stripped him of all weapons when they grabbed him. So I silently handed him one of my knives.

‘Keep it.’ He said, and I was about to argue with him when he continued. ‘Give it to me if any attack us from behind. You have a better chance with both than the two of us do with one each.’

I saw his reasoning, and I did agree, but I was not happy about it. I did not like leaving him without a way of defending himself and I internally cursed the fact that we had left the Orc’s weapon behind.

We would not be able to walk out without a fight, and I was highly doubtful that Estel would even be able to stand up long enough for one. Maybe it would have been smarter of me to go back outside and regroup with Halbarad and the other rangers. But I could not have left Estel in that cell alone again. Even if it were to kill me. Us, I revised in my head. Even if it were to kill us.

‘Legolas. Just leave me.’ Estel murmured as we came closer to the entrance and the sound of Orc’s voices was getting louder. Truthfully, I was surprised that we had not stumbled upon more of them than we had.

‘No.’ I answered simply, and we kept walking.

‘This makes no sense.’

‘Nay, it does not. And it would make even less sense if I were to leave you behind.’

‘Why did you come?’ He asked again and I clenched my teeth.

‘Later, Estel.’ I said, not really wanting to start discussing how I had come to know about his predicament when we were completely surrounded by Orcs.

‘What if there is no later?’ He said silently and I swallowed tightly, wishing that I had not come too late. Wishing that he had not yet given up.

‘Have hope, Estel.’ I said and he groaned.

‘I wish Elrond had never given me that name.’ He muttered.

‘Hope is always the last to leave.’ I said but silenced as I heard Orcs moving our way and pressed Estel against the cavern wall, making him lean against it instead of me. ‘Silent.’ I hushed as he opened his mouth before I turned towards the direction where the Orcs were coming from.

‘Hit me.’ Estel whispered, just barely loud enough for even me to hear it and I looked at him in horror. ‘They will come to join, and you can kill them.’

‘I will not.’

‘If not, they will rush us and the rest will surely come.’ He muttered and I saw the Orcs come out of a chamber farther ahead and I slammed my fist hard against the wall behind Estel. I saw the shock in his eyes and he lost his balance, sliding down the wall as though I had actually hit him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Orcs stop in surprise before they grinned in what I assumed was anticipation, and walked quickly to join us.

Once they were upon us I turned quickly to slice the throats of the first two, and before the last one made a noise, I had buried my knife deep within its chest. I pulled my knife back out and wiped it quickly on the dead Orc before I turned back to Estel who was still sitting on the ground.

‘Estel, are you alive?’ I asked, trying for a cheerful tone, but entirely certain that I failed as I reached out for his wrist to check for a pulse. But he waved me away and held out his hand to get help back to his feet instead. I gave it to him, and we got back to our previous position, with him leaning on me.

‘Very much so. Did you break your hand against the wall?’ He asked in turn and I flexed my hand. While it was bloody, and ached, nothing was broken.

‘Better my hand than your jaw.’ I said drily and we picked up our pace again. I could see the light coming from the exit, just around the next corner, and I heard no Orcs nearby. We could not possibly be so lucky?

When we came to the corner I helped Estel lean against the wall again and looked around the corner. I did not see anyone, except for the guard, and with both my hearing and seeing in consensus; I had to allow for the fact that it was true.

‘Stay here.’ I muttered to Estel who looked at me in annoyance.

‘Yes, because I have so many places to go.’ He said ironically and I took a step away before I realized we had once again missed taking the weapons from the dead Orcs. So I handed him my knife again, and this time he took it without arguing. Even he knows when to keep quiet and accept it.

‘I’ll be back in a moment.’ I said, more for my own sake than for his. I needed to convince myself that I would truly be back; that I was doing this for Estel, for otherwise I would be running out of the caves in panic. I went towards the entrance on swift feet. The chambers and corridors that jutted out in each direction did have Orcs in them, but if I could simply kill the one at the entrance without alerting anyone, I could hopefully get back to Estel and get him out of there without any further ruckus.

Then I heard something slide against the wall and immediately translated it to Estel loosing his strength to keep standing. The guard at the front turned around and said something to me in its crude language, making me frown against the pain in my head. I just walked quicker towards it, and then it said something again, a bit louder this time, making me fear it would call out louder the next time. I was close enough, so I sprinted towards the guard and sliced its throat. Unfortunately not before it had raised a loud shout in anger and alarm, so I found my only option to be to sprint right back to Estel. I heard the Orcs coming in groups towards the cave entrance from all directions.

He was ungracefully trying to get back to his feet and I roughly grabbed his arm and threw it over my shoulder. I winced at his groan of pain, but there was nothing I could do about it. He tried to hand me back my knife but I did not bother with it; it was better he kept it. I wrapped my other arm around his waist and set off at as fast a run as he could manage, although I was practically lifting him at every step. I think he lost consciousness as we ran, him dropping my knife definitely suggested it, but I could not pay it a second thought. We had to get away.

We were almost out when the first Orcs came out into the hall behind us and I shouted for Halbarad. They had to get Estel out of here. I had not needed to shout, because Halbarad and the two youngsters came up to the entrance at the same time as we did; they must have seen me kill the guard, or they had heard its shout of alarm.

‘Take him. We’ll delay them.’ I said quickly to the two youngsters and lifted Estel’s arm off my shoulders and shifted it to lie over Galdir’s shoulders instead. Belegorn swiftly moved in on Estel’s other side and took his other arm. ‘Go! Hide!’ I said and turned back to the entrance, just in time to meet the sword of an Orc with my remaining knife.

Like I had told Estel earlier, the passage was narrow, and as long as we could keep the Orcs from getting out to surround us, we would not need to fight more than one or two each at a time. The Orcs were practically crawling over each other, trying to get to the fight, making it easy for us to create a wall of dead Orcs.

‘Run!’ Halbarad said when no Orc was coming through, and the wall of Orcs started to move, meaning they were pushing at it from the other side.

We ran and got to the start of the path before the wall moved and bodies were falling down. The Orcs shouted in bloodthirsty glee and ran for us. The young rangers had hidden with Estel on the plateau we had found, I saw them merely due to an errant leg, showing behind the rock.

‘Get them out of sight.’ I hissed to Halbarad and pushed him behind the rock as well, knowing that the Orcs did not see us from where they were. I leaned down to grab my bow and quiver.

‘Le…’ I heard Estel, but Halbarad covered his mouth with his hand. The two youngsters were looking at me with wide eyes and I spared them a smile before I took off running again, trusting that the Orcs would follow me when they saw no one else. Orcs are quite single-minded after all.

I could run faster when not keeping pace with a human, but the armor still slowed me down. Since there was no viable way of getting rid of it quickly without stopping and cutting it off, which I did not really have time for, I just kept running. I did look back a time or two to ensure that I was still being followed. It would not do if they got tired of coming after me and went back to their caverns before Estel and the rangers had had time to get away.

But, as I noticed, the Orcs were very persistent. More persistent than I had expected, and I was nearly down from the Mountains when the infuriating Orc boots made me stumble and I went tumbling down the side of the Mountain. My breath left me in a rush when I hit a large rock with my stomach, and my fall was stopped. I quickly looked upwards to see that the Orcs had stopped and were looking around themselves dumbly, trying to see where I had gone. I winced when I heard them speak, but then they were turning back. They were leaving. I breathed a sigh in relief. Halbarad must have been able to get away by now.

I stayed where I was for another while, partly to make sure that the Orcs were truly leaving, and partially to get my breath back. When I moved again, I felt a twinge in my chest and hoped that my ribs were simply bruised and not broken. Estel would never let me hear the end of it if I had to tell him that I had stumbled and fallen.

I took the opportunity to remove the boots that were guilty for making me achieve such an uncharacteristic act. Then I looked around for my knife to get out of the rest of the armor, and saw it sitting on a ridge further below. It was a climb I was not ready to attempt with bruised ribs, so I went ahead and shrugged out of the Orc armor without cutting it off. I groaned as I noticed that my regular clothes were now indeed a lost cause, as I had predicted. My bow and quiver had thankfully landed next to me so I picked these up before I began making my way upward again. I had to make sure they were safe before I could go back home.

The sun had started to set before I came up, and started listening for any clue as to where the rangers had gone. I heard the Orcs from far away and focused in that direction only to ensure that they did not sound as though they had found anyone. It seemed like they had not, so I kept walking up the regular path. The rangers were unlikely to stay on it, but I made sure to make just a little bit of noise so that they would be able to hear me, since it was unlikely I would be able to find any tracks.

My tracking skills are adequate at best, and Estel has always been better at it than I. Following a track made by Orcs or Men is usually something that I can track successfully. Rangers, not quite Men, are harder, for they are trained since birth on how to track, and on how to hide tracks of their own.

I froze as I heard the sharp noise of swords being carefully pulled from their scabbards, as though someone was trying to do it silently. I lifted my bow, fitting an arrow to it, aiming unerringly in the direction of the noise. Whoever had done it was completely hidden by rocks, and they were on a slightly higher ground than I, giving them the advantage.

Nothing more happened, and I loosened the tension of the bowstring, but kept the arrow on as I snuck closer to where the sound had originated. As soon as I was close enough, I jumped to get onto the rocks as I tightened my bow again, but loosened it as I saw it was Halbarad and the two young rangers. Halbarad was quick enough in his reactions to stop his swing, but Belegorn and Galdir had probably not even noted who I was as they swung frantically towards me. I stopped Belegorn’s blade through placing the end of my bow on top of it and pressing it down against the rock, and kicked Galdir’s sword out of his hand before he had a chance to cut my ankle off with it.

‘Nice to see you too.’ I said in good cheer, and Halbarad laughed.

‘Legolas?’ I heard Estel’s voice from behind them, and I jumped off the rock, over Belegorn’s head to land beside Estel, wincing at the nab from my ribs. ‘Are you all right?’ He asked suspiciously.

‘I think that is supposed to be my line.’ I smiled. In the light of the sunset I was able to see his face that was covered in bruises. His left eye was swollen shut, and blood was caked in his hair. But he was alive, and awake. ‘I definitely believe that we both are in equal need of a bath.’ I chuckled and he grinned for me, but was not quite able to keep it.

‘You should not have come.’ He said and I felt my eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

‘You are most welcome, my friend.’ I said teasingly and he sighed.

‘Are you even able to be serious for more than one second?’ He grouched and I carefully sat down cross-legged opposite to him. He narrowed his eyes as he watched me sit down, and I had no doubt that he noticed I was not quite as graceful as normally. ‘You were injured.’ He stated and I shrugged, not really denying it.

‘You are far worse off. Did they feed you?’ I asked, having finally decided that he was far too thin for a healthy human.

‘Some stale bread and water.’ He answered, and I had the distinct memory of just how vile that had tasted.

‘I am sorry.’ I said, making him frown.

‘You should not have come.’

‘I could hardly refuse when your rangers so kindly came with the offer of more Orc-blood to spill.’ I gave him a quirked smile, hoping that he would simply let it be.

‘My…’ he looked up at Halbarad, Belegorn and Galdir with a contemplating look on his face. ‘How did they find you?’

‘Oh, they brought a band of Orcs to our borders.’ I laughed, and heard two matching groans from the youngsters.

‘We did not mean to, master Legolas.’ Galdir said contritely.

‘It is of no matter now.’ I said, but Estel was not quite as quick as I in letting it go. I had after all heard the story once already.

‘Why did you go to Mirkwood in the first place?’ He asked, and I listened as the story was told to him as well. It was a bit more comprehensive this time around, with the two not talking over each other all the time.

‘So, you went to Mirkwood to get the help of the prince?’ Strider asked, an amused eyebrow raised in my direction.

‘We did. We apologize that we did not go further for him. But Master Legolas was kind enough to come to our aid in the prince’s absence.’ Galdir explained.

‘Indeed, that was very gracious of him.’ Estel smiled widely, and I heard Halbarad stifling a chuckle behind us.

‘I am very gracious in nature.’ I said cheerily and Estel let out a disbelieving laugh.

‘Indeed, it is very civil to let two teens believe that they have not found the person they were looking for.’ He chuckled and I glared at him mockingly.

‘He is the prince? Prince Legolas?’ Galdir exclaimed in disbelief.

‘The very same.’ I answered, intentionally using the same words that I had used when they asked if I had the same name as the prince. As myself, I guess.

‘But you said…’ Galdir said, sounding slightly betrayed.

‘I said nothing. You merely assumed.’ I told them truthfully.

‘You let us believe we had failed.’ He accused and I narrowed my eyes. I thought we had covered this already, when they had decided they would not continue the search for the prince. But I recognized I had not discussed it with them at any length, and they were young, after all.

‘Would it have mattered?’ I asked simply, twisting to look them in their eyes. ‘We got Strider out. No matter if I was the prince or not, your aim was achieved, was it not?’

They looked at each other before looking back at me.

‘I suppose…’ Belegorn agreed hesitantly.

‘You can fail or succeed on the way. But you must not lose hope,’ I gave Estel a pointed look and he rolled his eyes, ‘your final aim is what matters at the end.’

They looked appropriately confused as Halbarad called them away from us to have them stand guard once more.

‘Halbarad never should have asked for you to come.’ Estel muttered and I looked at him in exasperation.

‘Both of us got out.’

‘But you should never have had to go in.’

‘It was not your fault.’ I said, knowing exactly what was causing him to say these things. He thought he should have gotten out of it himself, he thought he was inadequate, having gotten caught in the first place. It was the exact same kind of feelings that I had had after coming out.

He shivered and I reached to take my cloak off to give him before I realized it had probably been left on the plateau with the dead Orc. Instead I shuffled over to sit next to him, making sure we were touching, so I could share my body heat with him. I remembered how cold I had been, and I wondered if it had affected him in the same way. Probably it was worse for him, since I am not nearly as susceptible to the cold as he is.

‘You were there for three _months_.’ He stated in disbelief and I sighed softly, wishing he would not compare our experiences. He did not need that; he needed to get through this without comparing himself against me. ‘I was there for a week. I have never been afraid of the dark, Legolas, but…’ His voice tapered off and he looked to the ground.

‘The dark is never what you need to fear, Estel. The dark is not what is evil.’ I said and took a deep breath. ‘I found that… surrounding yourself with family is a good way to get rid of the fears.’

He looked at me sharply before he smiled gratefully.

‘Sorry for dropping your knife.’ He said, smile still on his face, but now it was slightly bashful.

‘I dropped the other, so I can hardly blame you.’ I answered.

‘How?’

‘You remember I borrowed the armor of an Orc?’ I asked and he nodded. ‘The boots got in the way, so I tripped and dropped the knife.’ I got a full-blown laugh at that and I smiled. It was worth telling him if I could momentarily get his mind away from what he had just been through.

‘ _You_ fell?’

‘I…’ I started, intending to defend myself before I let out a sigh. ‘Yes, I fell.’ And I got another laugh, before he looked at me suspiciously.

‘Is that when you were hurt?’

‘Estel, will you please not worry about me?’ I said. Truly, the man is injured, nearly starved, he has just been through a tormenting experience, and yet he has enough presence of mind to think about me.

‘You were! I knew you sat down oddly.’ He said accusingly, and I could merely smile in amusement as he turned slightly to reach out and investigate me.

‘I am simply bruised.’ I said, pushing his hands away from where they were trying to open my tunic to get a better look. ‘It is too dark for you to see anything anyways.’

He moved away again to lean against the rock, but I think it was mainly because he was too tired and weak himself rather than being any less concerned about me. He would not have believed my claims of simply being bruised without verifying it himself, even though it was the truth.

‘Estel.’ I said as a thought struck me. ‘I believe it would be prudent that you send word to Elrond regarding your safe extraction from the caves.’

‘What did you do?’ He asked suspiciously.

‘I may have sent him word to inform him of the events, should something untoward have befallen us.’ Estel let out a soft snort in amusement.

‘At least you had a backup plan if things had gone awry then.’

‘When do I not have a backup plan?’ I saw him open his mouth to retort, but I did not give him any time to answer before I continued. ‘I had two, in fact. Both Gwathon and Elrond would have been after us. Still will, if we do not get back to them in time.’

‘You are saying that they may already be after our hide?’

‘This is what I fear.’ I said, with a small smile, happy that I could again banter with Estel. I had feared I would lose him for a while.

‘Then there is nothing to be done.’ Estel said with an exaggerated sigh. ‘I shall send Galdir and Belegorn as messengers to the Last Homely House as soon as we get back to the camp.’

The two boys would surely love getting that mission. During our trip together, I had gathered that the only Elves they had met previously had been Elladan and Elrohir, and they had been very interested in finding out more about our race.

‘I can send one for Mirkwood also, and you can join us in the camp for a while?’ Estel asked and I shook my head, not without regret at needing to reject his offer.

‘Nay. Gwathon would not trust a messenger. I will see you safely across the Mountains, to make sure that you do not get lost, then I must return before Gwathon sends out a search-party for me.’ I smiled at the thought, for I knew that he would come, and he would be leading it.

‘Our camp is merely a bit up North from the Pass, join us, and we will give you a horse for your return.’

I looked at him, feeling quite tempted to take him up on that offer.

‘And a bath? And new clothes?’ I asked longingly and he laughed for me again.

‘Aye. You truly do smell vile.’ He chuckled and I jabbed him lightly in the side with my elbow.

‘You notice this over your own stench?’ I said with a disbelieving tone, but a wide grin on my face, and we fell into a comfortable silence.

‘Legolas?’ Estel asked after a moment, and I only had to wait a moment for him to continue. ‘Thank you.’ He breathed and I smiled at him.

‘I will always come for you, Estel.’

‘And help me recover my lost hopes?’ He asked with a small quirk of his lips.

‘It is my most important function.’ I said seriously, not doubting it for a moment.

I would not lose Hope.


End file.
